Featured, Tunnelling

WATCH: Forrestfield-Airport Link TBM arrives onsite

The 600 t Herrenknecht TBM, worth an estimated AU$20 million, was transported from the Henderson, 30 km southwest of Perth, to what will be the new Forrestfield Station.

It will be used to construct an 8 km long, 7 m diameter tunnel from Forrestfield to Bayswater, crossing under Perth Airport and the Swan River.

The TBM is one of only nine of its kind in the world and had spent nine months in China for initial assembly and testing, before it made the journey to Henderson.

 

“The TBMs use new dual-mode, variable-density technology, which is important given the varied ground conditions between Forrestfield and Bayswater,” said WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.

“The machines will tunnel under Perth Airport and the Swan River, reaching a depth of 25 metres, and the conditions underground on the route are incredibly diverse – ranging from sandy material to clays and rock, all under water.

“The Salini ImpregiloNRW Joint Venture has adopted the latest technology, which enables the TBM to bore through these variable soils,” she said.

 

It has been craned into the dive structure onsite and will begin boring in July and is estimated to have completed construction in June 2019.

The second TBM is expected to be delivered in mid-July and will start boring in September.

For more information visit the Forrestfield-Airport Link website.

If you have a project you would like featured in Trenchless Australasia contact Assistant Editor Nick Lovering at nlovering@gs-press.com.au

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